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According to the latest data compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) of Switzerland, Hungary advanced five places on this year’s competitiveness ranking, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said at a press conference earlier today. Along with improving macro-economic statistics, international competitiveness rankings and valuations by economic stakeholders also confirm that a trend reversal has taken place with regard to Hungary’s competitiveness.

“In its latest measure to combat migration, the Government has decided to resubmit the Stop Soros legislative package and the related constitutional amendment”, Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás announced. The Stop Soros package will be stricter than originally planned, and will also include criminal law sanctions against those who organise migration.

In addition to reviewing the state of Hungarian-Austrian bilateral relations, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the Austrian National Council, also discussed the European integration of the Western Balkans region at a meeting held in Budapest on Thursday, Bertalan Havasi, the Deputy State Secretary heading the Press Office of the Prime Minister informed the Hungarian news agency MTI.

According to the Prime Minister’s communication, by 20 July Parliament will pass all bills which the government promised to enact, including the amendment of the Fundamental Law and the “Stop Soros” legislative package. Viktor Orbán also said they will guarantee a pension rise and a pension premium for next year as well.

“Hungary highly appreciates the assistance of the United States in the interests of solving the conflict that has developed with Ukraine because of legislation that violates the rights of minorities”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told reporters in Budapest on Wednesday following talks with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell.

“Hungary’s goal and interest is a strong and successful Europe, and it is natural for there to be debate on what path leads to this”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday in Budapest at an international conference entitled “The Future of Europe”.

Earnings in real terms increased markedly, by 10.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018. Gross and net earnings both gained 12.4 percent in the observed period. Thanks to the six-year wage agreement concluded in November 2016, earnings were up, in the period January 2017-March 2018, by more than 20 percent within the national economy. This growth has helped narrow the wage gap with the EU. The steady real earnings growth trend prevalent for more than five years proves that having a job has been increasingly worth it in Hungary.

It is unacceptable to not speak about the security aspects of migration in light of the fact that people coming from a migrant background have committed 29 acts of terrorism in Europe in the past three years, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó pointed out in Brussels on Tuesday, after the meeting of the foreign ministers and representatives in charge of trade and development affairs of the Member States of the European Union.

It is unacceptable that decisions should be made in some EU headquarters on the resettlement of migrants into Hungary without consideration for the opinion of the Hungarian authorities and our legal rules, György Bakondi, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister said in an interview published in the newspaper Magyar Hírlap on Tuesday.